Salesforce, Oracle redesign urban landscape, if only temporarily

Simon Driscoll (left) and Nicola Band settle into a hammock for lunch Tuesday at the national-park-themed setting designed for Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference in S.F.

Simon Driscoll (left) and Nicola Band settle into a hammock for lunch Tuesday at the national-park-themed setting designed for Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference in S.F.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Scenes from Oracle OpenWorld in September 2016, when an entire block of Howard Street closes down for a four-day conference that's also an exercise in pop-up urban design. These photos are from Sept. 22, the final day, when many of the attendees already had departed. less

Scenes from Oracle OpenWorld in September 2016, when an entire block of Howard Street closes down for a four-day conference that's also an exercise in pop-up urban design. These photos are from Sept. 22, the ... more

Photo: John King, The Chronicle

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David Netters plays a game of al fresco ping-pong at the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.

David Netters plays a game of al fresco ping-pong at the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Rustic-looking signs point the way to destinations at Dreamforce and carry on the national park concept.

Rustic-looking signs point the way to destinations at Dreamforce and carry on the national park concept.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Yards of artificial turf is unrolled from curb to curb to create a temporary park on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

Yards of artificial turf is unrolled from curb to curb to create a temporary park on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Kristin Richter (front) and Katie Owen sprawl out on artificial grass to do some work in front of Moscone Center South at the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

Kristin Richter (front) and Katie Owen sprawl out on artificial grass to do some work in front of Moscone Center South at the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Scenes from Oracle OpenWorld in September 2016, when an entire block of Howard Street closes down for a four-day conference that's also an exercise in pop-up urban design. These photos are from Sept. 22, the final day, when many of the attendees already had departed. less

Scenes from Oracle OpenWorld in September 2016, when an entire block of Howard Street closes down for a four-day conference that's also an exercise in pop-up urban design. These photos are from Sept. 22, the ... more

Photo: John King, The Chronicle

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Hawaiian dancers entertain Dreamforce conference-goers at the Moscone Convention Center on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.

Hawaiian dancers entertain Dreamforce conference-goers at the Moscone Convention Center on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Traffic signals are deactivated on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the duration of the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

Traffic signals are deactivated on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the duration of the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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An Airstream motor home adds to the ambience of the National Park theme of this year's Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

An Airstream motor home adds to the ambience of the National Park theme of this year's Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center on Howard Street between Third and Fourth ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Erika Rachal lounges in the sun on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

Erika Rachal lounges in the sun on Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets for the Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Dreamforce conference attendees crowd together to pick up box lunches at the Moscone Convention Center as westbound traffic on Howard Street is diverted onto Third Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. less

Dreamforce conference attendees crowd together to pick up box lunches at the Moscone Convention Center as westbound traffic on Howard Street is diverted onto Third Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Salesforce, Oracle redesign urban landscape, if only temporarily

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Oracle and Salesforce aren’t merely high-tech behemoths, determined rivals in the realm of business software. They’re the instigators of San Francisco’s largest annual displays of pop-up urbanism.

Banish thoughts of cool provocations like the Market Street Prototyping Festival, which is worth a plunge if you’re downtown on Friday or Saturday. Or the many ephemeral gatherings that invariably include food trucks. No, Oracle OpenWorld and Salesforce’s Dreamforce are weeklong occupations of an entire block, the void filled with thematic environments at a scale that would do a planning czar proud.

Each takes full possession of Moscone Center and spills onto the green at Yerba Buena Gardens. Each takes the extra step of closing off Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets, replacing cars with a landscaped commons. Ultimately, each is a festival of corporate self-promotion — but with an immersive outdoor landscape designed to make visitors gasp but not get lost.

Like Burning Man, each alters its theme from year to year.

In the case of Oracle OpenWorld, which was in bloom Sept. 18-22, conference guests ascended a red carpet through supersized red rings to reach what was billed modestly as “Oracle Cloud Plaza.”

At the summit, participants could proceed down extra-wide stairs of red carpet that doubled as amphitheater seating — the plaza consumed 71,000 square feet of carpet in all — or pause at a 15-foot-high perch to survey the bustling terrain below.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets is covered in thick artificial turf to give Dreamforce an outdoorsy feel.

Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets is covered in thick...

“We wanted to create a sensory transformation,” said Francisco Delgadillo, who oversees the planning in his role as Oracle’s vice president, brand creative. Overall, the goal in the plaza was “a combination of symbolism, experience and content,” he said.

The glitz was unavoidable, with large screens delivering streamed video of conference sessions when a speaker or performer wasn’t on stage. But there were nooks and eddies as well, outdoor lounges in a variety of configurations offering fabric armchairs amid standard-issue tables and stools.

Dreamforce, which opened Tuesday and closes Friday, doesn’t aim to match OpenWorld’s initial air of shock and awe. Instead, visitors enter through a large arch meant to conjure up nostalgia for a national park, complete with (faux) stone rising from (real) potted trees and (fiberglass) boulders. The theme continues beyond the portal: All of Howard Street is cloaked in thick artificial turf, with Adirondack chairs and hammocks to the right and an Airstream trailer to the left.

“There are lots of people, and there’s lots of energy, so we try to give people spaces where they can sit and absorb their surroundings,” said Elizabeth Pinkham, Salesforce’s executive vice president for global real estate, strategic events and executive briefing centers. (Folks, I don’t make up these titles.) “It’s an exercise in how you create an environment where people feel comfortable — and also have fun.”

Salesforce adds flavor to the standard conference cocktail in other ways. There’s a 6-foot-tall carved wooden bear at the entrance to the hall filled with product demonstrations. Some of the guides on hand to answer questions wear ranger hats. The maps on display take a cue from national park signage.

For its part, Oracle’s outdoor commons included an open-air cafe emphasizing locally sourced foods and an artisanal look. The plaza devoted one corner to displays and presentations related to the America’s Cup regatta, Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s hobby of choice — including virtual reality headsets so conference-goers could pretend they were slicing through the bay.

You get the picture. One company played up the testosterone factor. The other aimed for an aw-shucks air, despite tickets going for as much as $1,799. Oracle Open World succeeded at making those attending feel as if they’d been parachuted into a hot-ticket commotion. Dreamforce’s central green is expansive enough to induce a certain seminatural calm.

In the end, the well-integrated design concepts aside, these are blowouts designed to boost the brand. Create buzz among vendors and customers. The back wall of Oracle OpenWorld’s outdoor cafe was adorned with inspirational slogans. Dreamforce way-finding signs urged attendees to “Be Your Best.”

That said, they’re also tributes to the inherent appeal of big-city settings in an age where, Donald Trump fear-mongering aside, cities have seductive auras all their own. By getting out of the conference halls and into the open air, where there are new towers and four-star museums on the horizon, these two pop-up cities make the case that to be in San Francisco is to be part of the action.

By Monday, Howard Street will again be possessed by automobiles. Conference hashtags will gather virtual dust. And the organizers will already be starting to plan next year’s even bigger! better! editions.